A Fine Line Regarding Strike

If you’re watching the U.S. Steelworkers strike at Kaiser from the sidelines, beware of taking sides, warns Peter C. Dolina, Veradale.

Don’t “fall for the black and white picture of bad guys and good guys.”

Dolina wrote Bagpipes in support of Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk’s decision to continue stationing deputies at the picket lines.

“To make sure that the factory entry is safe is good for both sides and so Sterk’s decision was right,” he said. Union sympathizers have implied that Kaiser, which contributed $12,000 to the county general fund, is getting preferential treatment, including expeditious handling of building permits for quarters for replacement workers.

“What exactly would have been achieved if the housing permit would not have been granted?” Dolina asked. Either way, the replacements would have had to cross the picket line, he said.

“The right question,” Dolina said, “is not if somebody - the county, the newspaper, … - is on this or that side but how to get rid of emotions, get factual, open communication, find common ground for both sides and end this strike.”

Another reader would agree that there are more stakeholders in this strike than just labor and management. There’s also the taxpayer, says James A. Nelson, Spokane.

“During Kaiser’s labor problems I have seen as high as five sheriff’s cars at Kaiser-Mead, three cars across the street from the main gate and one at each end of the plant,” he said.

On nearby Peone Prairie lives Nelson’s daughter who, according to Nelson, has had her house and outbuildings burglarized three times in recent years. Neighbors have had similar experiences, usually during daylight.

“She’s always gotten the same answer from the sheriff’s department,” said Nelson: “`Sorry, we just don’t have adequate manpower to patrol the area.’

“This being the case, there can be no justification for Kaiser having even one sheriff’s car on duty at their (Kaiser’s) site,” he said.

He believes any security costs incurred through the labor standoff are the responsibility of Kaiser and the Steelworkers, but through private, not public, security services.

“The only time a sheriff’s car should be at the plant is in the case of an emergency. They (Kaiser) shouldn’t be treated any differently than the rest of the citizens of Spokane County,” Nelson said.